Describing the committed taxpayers as “engines of economy”, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today exhorted the young IRS probationers to treat them as their clients and not as adversaries.

 

“The assessee is no longer considered an adversary, committed taxpayers are the engines of our economy and therefore important clients of Revenue Department,” Mukherjee said, while addressing the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) probationers at Parliament House complex here.

 

He said assessees’ “comfort zones” have to be significantly enhanced, even as deliberate evaders and offenders are punished.

 

The probationers were in the complex for a training programme on appreciation of Parliamentary processes and procedures. The programme was conducted by the Bureau of Parliament Studies and Training.

 

Mukherjee said liberalisation, globalisation, technological innovation are not mere buzzwords, but real happenings driven by men and market forces that are sometimes not within personal control.